Stainless steel media in vibratory tumbler?

T

Travelin' Man

New member
Hey guys, I've got a question about the new (at least to me) stainless steel pin tumbling media that seems to be the new do it all for tumbling brass.

I've been on one of the manufacturer's websites and they say that this media will not work in a vibratory tumbler. The question simply is, WHY NOT?

At my shop I have an industrial sized (about 5 feet around by 2 feet deep) vibratory tumbler where we use a couple of different medias to do everything from removing burrs on machined steel and aluminum parts to removing the flux residue on small diameter brazed carbide sawblades. While we don't use any stainless steel pin media, I cannot see any good reason why it would not work as long as you are able to still run it in a liquid bath.

I've been thinking on trying this on my Lyman twin tumbler with the smaller liquid capable bowl but thought I would see if I could get a reasonable answer here first.

Richard
 
Interesting, I thought that would be the typical reply but in my experience with my industrial tumbler where one of the medias we use to remove machining burrs from parts is actually specially crushed and sized gravel, I have seen the vibratory action actually causes the media to tumble much in the fashion that a top loading clothes washing machine tumbles the clothes in the water.
 
I don't know if the vibrators will have enough oomph to do anything. I say take your brass to work and throw it in the big monster.
 
You say you read that it will not work yet you think it can be done. Go ahead and spend the money ($40 to $50) for stainless pin media and give it a try. Let us know how it worked.
 
You would need a lot more stainless media to 'immerse' the cases in a vibratory tumbler compared to a barrel tumbling. The cost of the pins would be much higher, and much more energy required to excite them - too much for table-top vibratory cleaners, I'm sure. If you were able to agitate the pins sufficiently the action in air might be so aggressive it damages the brass or doen't give the desired finish - the stainless process is based on immersion in a cleaning solution with the pins making fairly gentle contact in the liquid to lift off adhered carbon etc.

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I would say the question of will it or wont it work is not the concern. Brass is soft and stainless steel is not as soft. You should always use a media that is softer then the brass so as to not wear the walls of the casing. And if you really wanted to try it, id say no to a vibratory device and yes to something that accually tumbles, like a rock polisher for example. But.i would stick to corn cob or walnut. Ive accually found that a couple spritzes of tire shine in with your walnut shell produces a great once through cleaning and shine.
 
You would need a lot more stainless media to 'immerse' the cases in a vibratory tumbler compared to a barrel tumbling. The cost of the pins would be much higher, and much more energy required to excite them - too much for table-top vibratory cleaners, I'm sure. If you were able to agitate the pins sufficiently the action in air might be so aggressive it damages the brass or doen't give the desired finish - the stainless process is based on immersion in a cleaning solution with the pins making fairly gentle contact in the liquid to lift off adhered carbon etc.
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This is exactly the kind of explanatory answer I was looking for.

I have also talked to the manufacturer of other stainless steel media and he stated that the primary reason the pins alone will not work in a vibratory tumbler is because of how they tend to pack together, the pins will work though if mixed with other stainless steel media shapes.

On another note, after speaking to the rep from the stainless steel media manufacturer, I spoke to and got a quote from the company that also supplies our sand and bead blasting media on corn cob media. The just happen to have two different sizes of crushed corn cob media plus they also carry polish treated corn cob media and the price for the treated corn cob is $52 for 50 pounds plus shipping costs, does this seem reasonable to you guys?
 
On another note, after speaking to the rep from the stainless steel media manufacturer, I spoke to and got a quote from the company that also supplies our sand and bead blasting media on corn cob media. The just happen to have two different sizes of crushed corn cob media plus they also carry polish treated corn cob media and the price for the treated corn cob is $52 for 50 pounds plus shipping costs, does this seem reasonable to you guys?
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I can't even remember how many years ago it was, but I also contacted a blast grit supplier and purchased both ground cob and walnut in 50# bags. I even got lucky when they brought the cob out as the pallet had a busted bag on it they were going to toss and I got 3/4 or more for free. At the time I gave somewhere around $18 for the cob and $28'ish for the walnut. I split this up with a couple of friends, plus we have used it to stuff the Caldwell shooting bags. I can't say how much of it I have tossed out as it has gotten dirty but I can say that I still have a couple of 5 gal bucket full sitting in the corner unused of the cob plus half a sack of the walnut. One sack will go a LONG ways.

If you go that route be sure to have something air tight to store it in like snap on lid buckets as with the cob there will be corn residue which will attract bugs. Trust me, they make a mess too.
 
Now that I am at work I have the quoted prices in front of me so here they are:

Corn cob #1, 10/14 coarse 40# bag - $32

Corn cob #3, 20/40 fine 40# bag - $32

Corn cob treated Hi Lite 10, 50# bag - $137.50 (I guess I was just a little wrong on this one!)
 
Steel media

You won't have a problem with parts floating on the media. The bigger issue is that steel is much heavier than other media types, and this excessive weight may stop the tumbler from shaking well. Remember, you cannot just put less media in the tumbler to keep the weight low. You will need certain volume of media (between 0.5 and 3/4 of the tumbler volume).

I had a vibratory tub, and installed two sectioning walls to reduce the amount of media, while maintaining the depth of media. This way, the tub kept shaking aggressively, and the aluminum parts got a nice burnish.

Good luck

http://mhandbook.com/vibratory-tumbler/
 
took a couple seconds to Google and find the answer from one of the many SS pin suppliers out there.

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/tips/

Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Will your media work in a vibratory type tumbler?
A. No, the media and the water weigh too much for the average type vibratory tumblers to get any results. You need a rotary style tumbler with a hexagon shaped drum or a tumbler with paddles inside. The MJR Tumbler will not work.
 
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